The winemaker was in the shop a few months ago and tasted us on a 9 vintage vertical of this wine starting with the 2005 down to the 1985. The 05 is the current released vintage. This is a Northern Piedmont Nebbiolo the winemaker keeps in barrel for at least 24 months, then in bottle for up to 5 years before release. There were only 6 bottles released of the 1985 in MA and I got 2 of them. We have the 2001 on the shelf in the shop. I spoke with the winemaker (he's a dead ringer for Eric Clapton) and he suggested the wine would pair very well with a sauteed veal in a light tomato sauce. So, I have to come up with a good dinner to serve this with. Then I'll post a tasting note. Oh, when we tasted the 85, it had some mixed up sediment but it was was bright and vibrant with very typical Nebbiolo characteristics. BTW, not cheap - retail is $60, and my employee price was $41.80!

Well, the taste I had when they came in was as close to spectacular as you can get for a Nebbiolo that old. I guess I'll find out for sure when I open one of them. The distributor really likes me, for some reason, and let me have 1/3 of the entire state's allocation. For my birthday she gave me an Italian Cab Franc that I later found retails for $65. Last year she got me a bottle of grappa that's not sold here from one of my favorite wineries.